Life with the Marines
by trollsaurus
Summary: In a mischievous turn of fate -and much to Monkey D. Garp's pleasure- his two grandsons grew up to be marines. But alas, the results weren't quite what he expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Life with the Marines**

Chapter One: Prologue

**Twelve years ago**

"_So, what are our options?" Yasopp asked._

_Somewhere in East Blue, the Red Hair Pirates were crammed around a table occupied with worn maps, about to discuss their next destination. It was well past midnight and their damaged ship rocked back and forth clumsily, the faint stench of alcohol still lingering in the air. _

"_We have two choices." Benn Beckman said, cleaning his rifle. Almost instantly, the crew members who were whispering tiredly among themselves became silent. Beckman continued._

"_While there are many peaceful islands with access to supplies in East Blue, we've only found two discrete enough to hide our ship while we repair it," He then gave their navigator a pointed look, urging him to continue. The noticeably young navigator straightened and cleared his throat. _

"_W-well, our main choice is Dawn Island." He grabbed a map from the table. _

"_As you can see, the shape of the island is perfect for hiding the ship," He emphasized this by tracing its outline " but to keep a low profile we'd have to avoid entering Goa Kingdom," He pointed to a large circle in the middle of the island " and stay at the outskirts instead. I actually found a village, Foosha I think it's called, that would be a great resting spot."_

"_That sounds good enough," Shanks said, "what's the second choice?" At this comment, the navigator gave Shanks a startled look, as if surprised his captain would actually bother speaking to him. _

"_Our second choice is Whale Island, Sir." The navigator rolled out another map. _

"_The shape isn't as favorable as in Dawn Island's, but I thought you'd like to know-"_

_The boy stopped himself, clearly debating whether or not to share this particular piece of information with his crew. After a few the boy sighed in defeat._

"_Well, I thought you'd like to know that the island is known for serving the best rum in the entire east-"Shanks didn't even let him finish._

"_Whale Island it is!"_

_At this comment the tired mood of the room lit up considerably, the captain's proclamation soon being met with barking laughs and comments like "Aye, that's our capt'n for ya!" It only took a few minutes for the room to get rowdy, the semblance of another hellacious party beginning to take form. _

_The only ones seemingly unfazed by Shank's decision were Benn Beckman, who also happened to be the personified common sense of the crew, and the rudely interrupted navigator. While Beckman sighed at his crew's boisterous antics, the navigator started fidgeting with his fingers. _

Perhaps I shouldn't have told them about the rum after all.

_Too busy partying in honor of their next destination, the Red Hair pirates failed to notice that their most recent acquisition from combat; a small treasure case containing a Devil Fruit (the Gomu Gomu fruit, if their speculations were right) had been carelessly misplaced somewhere on deck. Lucky Roo, who had been terribly inebriated at the time, was to blame for the misplacement._

_Now, as the ship entered a particularly agitated stretch of the sea and started rocking back and forth violently, the lacquered treasure chest fell down into the ocean, quickly getting carried away by the waves._

* * *

**Present**

BOOM!

On a particular Marine branch office, Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp had just burst through a wall.

Again.

After dusting off from his suit the remaining debris, Garp quickly ordered his subordinates to clean up the mess he had caused. He also made sure to emphasize that they did it quickly with a particularly dulcet 'Hurry up you lazy sea dogs!'

The reason behind his impatience was that Garp had just broken into his own room. To make matters worse, he had broken into his own room in the middle of the night. The Vice Admiral did his best to ignore the stifled yawns and grumblings from his subordinates.

Garp didn't feel particularly guilty about waking up the whole Marine base, his reason for it was perfectly reasonable. Having suffered an uncharacteristic strike of insomnia, the 'Hero of the Marines' had been wandering around the building , that is, until he happened to pass in front of his own room and decided to smash his way in. He had never used a door in his whole life, so Garp didn't understand why his subordinates would think he would start now.

Waiting for the mess to be cleaned, Garp sat down on his favorite chair. The old thing squeaked loudly under the man's weight.

Garp sighed. Although he had gone to his room with the intention of finally getting some sleep, he still didn't feel tired in the least. It wasn't surprising though, as there was an actual, tangible reason for his insomnia. Tomorrow was an important day. A _very_ importantday.

But Garp didn't feel angry or anxious, no, Garp was thrilled.

_Tomorrow, Luffy will finally join the Marines! _The mere thought made Garp break into a big, sloppy smile, earning him strange looks from the Ensigns that were still repairing his room's wall.

Certainly, Monkey D. Garp was a happy man.

Seeing that the fixing of the wall would take a long time, Garp decided to lie down on his bed. To pass the time he decided to think, for the third time during the night, about the set of circumstances that had granted him the gift of seeing both of his grandsons become marines.

_Well, is not as if I don't deserve it._ He thought.

All modesty aside, Garp knew he was awe-inspiring. It was just a fact.

With his rugged good looks and his mighty fist, Garp had certainly earned his epithet 'Hero of the Marines'. He had saved hundreds of lives, fought valiantly in the name of justice and raised through the ranks without the help of any Devil Fruit. All of this without ever asking anything in return.

So yes, in Garp's mind it made sense that when he finally asked for something -say, something like his grandsons becoming strong, brave, _dashing_ Marines- it would be given to him.

But still, it had taken Garp years of persistence, tough love and manipulation to get to this point, and he intended to savor it. Oh yes.

Tomorrow Luffy, who had turned 18 some days ago, would become a full-fledged Marine. A macho man. An hombre. Garp felt a wave of nostalgia; his little annoying brat had grown up.

Surprisingly enough, it had been Luffy, not Ace, who had embraced the Marine lifestyle first. Then again, Luffy was three years younger, which meant he was much more impressionable than his older brother.

It wasn't like there had been lack of nurturing and eagerness by Garp's part either. Since the moment Luffy turned 4, Garp had come once a week to Foosha village for a surprise training session harsher than the training he gave his own men. Sure, he might have been a little rash at times, like that one time he pushed him over that cliff… but still. It had all been so he would become a strong man.

Garp would like to think this 'tender training sessions' are what inspired Luffy to make his grandfather proud and become a marine, but he knew that wasn't the motivating factor. In fact, he had a slight hunch that Luffy may not have appreciated much his elite training. Why though, Garp had no clue. _He_ would have traded off an arm to have such a supportive grandfather when he was a boy. Oh yes.

Garp's first attempts to reason (with actual words instead of fists) with Luffy weren't the reason either. What Garp hadn't known back then was that this was mostly due to an incorrect approach of things. Luffy, despite his stupidity, has an outstanding talent; but he needs some sort of motivation. Luffy had needed a goal back then, something Garp hadn't offered him.

But of course, Garp first attempts to reason with Luffy weren't the last.

One day, when Garp came to visit Luffy for a surprise training session that involved knifes, water and some wild animals, the little twerp hadn't been home. Outraged by the idea he may have escaped somewhere, Garp had stormed off the house, fully intent on giving the brat a good lesson.

What he hadn't expected to find was said brat in Partys Bar of all places, sitting down innocently while that bartender- Makino it was?- read him a story. The look on his grandson's face had been priceless; Garp remembered. Luffy had stared at the young woman in wonder, sparkles almost coming out of his eyes and his mouth open in a small 'o'.

Intrigued, Garp has listened to the story the bartender was telling him. It seemed to be a compilation of the different adventures a bunch of fishermen at the sea, very different from the books on marine hierarchy Garp often read to him.

After a while, Garp had left his eavesdropping post, also leaving Luffy, who had looked like he was about to wet himself from excitement, to continue listening to the story.

From that day on, he made a change to his propaganda.

Upon noticing a familiar smell Garp took a glance at the wall, it was now being repainted.

He went back to his thoughts. Usually, when Garp talked to Luffy about the Marines he focused on their heroic actions; telling him how this 'brave warriors of justice' risk their life everyday to catch evil criminals and yet they still have time to help old ladies cross the road. Usually this touching stories earned a blank stare from his youngest grandson, and perhaps some nose picking.

Obviously, in Luffy's mental list of priorities, things like 'heroes' and 'justice' weren't very far up.

Thus, Garp's new approach mainly involved talking to Luffy about the Navy lifestyle under a totally new light ("…a Marine's life is a life full of adventure, friendship, love and freedom! Did you hear that Luffy? ADVENTURE!") And just to be safe, he also offered a slightly downplayed version of the pirate's way of life ("Constantly chased by us, those criminal's lives are sure dull! Focus on the word dull here Luffy! Dull as in boring, which means no adventures! Did I also mention they have no adventures at all?").

Even a faithful marine like Garp knew that a pirate's life was far from 'dull' or 'boring'. In fact, it was almost the antithesis, but it had to be done. If his grandson's motivation really depended on what could give him the most adventures, he would really have to do much more than just lie a little about pirates. Fortunately though, Luffy never met one to prove Garp's version of them wrong. Thanks heavens.

Also to his luck, his new approach to joining the marines had a slightly better response than the first one.

While Luffy didn't outright say he wanted to join the Marines - which he probably didn't- he wasn't opposing to it either. If anything, he was accepting that if he wanted some sort of adventure in his life that didn't involve being thrown in the middle of the jungle at night, being a fighter of justice was the best, if not only, option.

It was one fateful evening though, that Garp finally got Luffy a bit interested in his job.

Once again Garp had come to Foosha for a surprise training session (this time involving balloons, birds and meat) and once again, Luffy had not been at home. But this time he wasn't at some bar listening to a bunch of adventure stories, no, this time he had been doing something much stranger. When after some hours Garp had finally found him, the little devil had been sitting on top of a hill, staring quietly at the sea.

Emphasize the word 'quietly'.

Somewhat perplexed, Garp had sat down tentatively next to Luffy; afraid he might ruin what could potentially be 'precious grandfather-grandson bonding time'

Garp had been sure Luffy had sensed his presence, but he didn't look up, still frowning pensively. Garp stayed quiet too, wondering where this would lead.

Suddenly Luffy broke the silence.

"… Say old man, who is the freest man on the seas?" He asked. Garp remembered being utterly confused at that moment, then meditating the question for a few minutes.

"I suppose the Fleet Admiral, who controls everything."A few seconds after he said it Garp realized he might not have given Luffy a very good answer. _Now that I think about it_, he had thought back then, _Sengoku is perhaps one of the least free peop_-

"The Fleet _what_?"

"…"

After giving his grandson a good hard punch for being an uncultured idiot, Garp replied.

"The Fleet Admiral, don't you ever listen to me when I talk to you about marines?"

"No." Luffy had then proceeded to earn the second punch of the evening.

"Well, the Fleet Admiral is the leader of the Marines" Luffy frowned, rubbing the new bumps on his head.

"That sounds boring. Does he fight?" Garp fought the urge to punch Luffy again.

"Of course he does! The Fleet Admiral has the best fights and adventures in the whole sea!"

Garp had blurted that out as a spur-of-the-moment thing, but judging by the look in the boy's eye, his comment had intrigued Luffy. After that, they stayed quiet for a while, looking at the sea.

Garp looked at his room again; he had been so absorbed in his thoughts that without realizing it, his subordinates had finished painting his wall, cleaned the remaining debris and gone to sleep. He sighed contently. _Much better._ Now that he was in the privacy of a room without a gaping hole in one of its walls, Garp took the chance to get a few treats from his secret stash of donuts under his bed.

Lying down on his bed again while he munched happily the sugary treat, Garp decided to indulge in some more pleasant memories.

While Garp never found out to what extent that conversation had really interested Luffy, the day after that talk he had been sure the boy was at least a bit curious. This was mostly because the brat had suddenly started asking thousands upon thousands of annoying questions. Although he had almost lost it when Luffy had asked 'Do all Marines poop?' Garp had indeed been secretly very pleased with his advances.

As a result, it was during that time he had started to seriously plan Luffy's career.

There are mainly two ways to become a marine, usually depending on the age and connections the individual has. Typically if the person is young and, to put it bluntly, doesn't know personally any marine big shot, they will start in the lowest rank, Chore Boy, and will have to rise through the ranks while receiving harsh physical and academic training.

On the other hand, if the person in question is around 18 or above or has some pretty good influences, there is an easier way out. The individual will be tested both with a written exam and a battle to determine their prowess in the battlefield and their knowledge of the sea in general.

Afterwards, they are placed upon the rank the judges deem most worthy. While it is prohibited to give a rank higher than Petty Officer, this is still the easiest way out; simply because almost no one gets ranked as having the skills of a Chore Boy.

Now, any other person wouldn't have hesitated to shove Luffy as a Chore Boy and hope he would manage to make a name for himself. In fact, Garp himself had been tempted by the idea as he wanted Luffy to work his butt off to get things, but he had later dismissed the whole concept.

The reason for this change of mind was mostly due to the fact that he didn't want to leave his grandson's training to some incompetent. It would be him, Garp, 'Hero of the Marines' who would train and shape Luffy up to be a strong, wonderful marine, no one else.

Thus, from the day Luffy started asking questions; Garp started visiting Luffy almost daily. He also happened to increase his training by tenfold, something which his youngest grandson didn't appreciate much. But there was a purpose to all of this; these changes in routine had the sole purpose to prepare him for one single thing: the chance to prove himself after he turned 18.

_Which is tomorrow. _Garp thought happily.

Admittedly, even after Luffy stopped resenting the Marines, there had still been some set-backs on Luffy's road towards marine life. One of the most notorious being when he became a rubber man.

A rubber man.

It was at moments like those when Garp had genuinely wondered if his grandson had been born under a bad star. The Vice Admiral still remembers how unnerving was the first time he had given the little brat his 'Fist of Love' and his fist had actually _bounced back_.

Later on, Garp had learnt that Luffy had gone earlier in that remarkable morning to annoy some fisherman called Gyoru , with whom he was friends with. It turns out that the fisherman had fished out by accident a small treasure chest and had the bad judgment to show it to Luffy. His stupid grandson had obviously opened the chest, and since he found a fruit inside, he thought it was some sort of dessert. The rest, as they say, is history.

In a different scenario, having Luffy eat a Devil Fruit and acquire some freaky power like being elastic could have been considered useful. But Luffy, who was supposed to become a marine, had just traded off his ability to swim for a very dull ability.

At least if it had been something a bit flashier, like a Logia ability or a Mythical Zoan one, he might have let it slide, but Lady Luck wasn't on Luffy's side when he ate that fruit. Garp had still been fuming a couple of weeks after that incident.

Admittedly though, he had heard of worse scenarios. There had been a case of a particularly strong Commander who had eaten a Zoan type fruit, only to find out that it turned him into a beetle. Needless to say, he became the laughing stock of the whole Marine HQ.

But back to the point, even the whole Gomu Gomu fiasco didn't deter Garp in his endeavor of making Luffy a marine, and now, all these years later, the rubber brat was about to become just that in a matter of hours. Garp's heart swelled with pride.

Now feeling ready to go to sleep, Garp changed into his sleeping gear, including a sleep mask and pajama hat, and plopped onto his bed. But he still couldn't sleep.

One couldn't just think about Luffy and not have their thoughts eventually drift to his brother Ace.

Ah, Ace.

Ace, who because of his age had ironically been the first one to become a marine, (now some even say that he might be about to be promoted to Rear Admiral) had also been the most adamant about the whole idea.

Soon after Garp managed to get Luffy mildly interested in joining the Marines, Garp had realized there might still be hope for Ace too, thus he didn't waste time to take the 9 year old back from Dandan's custody (who despite trying to appear as relieved as possible, Garp suspected was secretly saddened to bid goodbye to the freckled twerp) and stuck him living with Luffy at Foosha village.

At first, that didn't go exactly well.

It didn't take more than 2 weeks to realize that somewhere on the way; his adopted grandson had become something of a monster._ Perhaps leaving the boy with bandits and hoping he would become a marine_ _wasn't exactly my brightest idea. _ Garp thought amusedly.

Indeed, Ace had picked up some curious habits from his time with the mountain bandits. Worth mentioning was the large repertoire of swear words that he could have only learned from criminals (in fact, even Garp didn't know some of the words the little gaki spewed out).

Also, while he had become pleasantly strong, Ace had also become independent to the extreme. Without counting sleep hours, his grandson spent absolutely no time at home. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Garp soon discovered that the reason for this was that the brat went out on long trips to the forest, only to come back at midnight, usually with some gigantic dead animal on his back. Even more baffling was the fact that his rival's son didn't accept food unless he himself had hunted it.

Garp soon fixed this by giving Ace 'surprise training sessions' too, in an attempt to eradicate his visits to the forest. Disappointingly enough Ace, unlike Luffy, didn't seem to mind in the least his almost daily training. He was not even intimidated. In fact, Ace seemed to be in his element, so after passing flawlessly whatever Garp threw at him, the horror child still had time to visit the forest.

This routine went on until by a strike of inspiration, Garp found a way that although didn't stop completely his forest loitering habits, it dramatically reduced the frequency and length of these visits.

He gave Ace a job.

To be exact, he cleaned the floor of Party's bar. While he would have liked to give his grandson a more physically demanding job, no other place wanted to hire the rude 9 year old. It had been mere luck that the bartender, Makino again, was very fond of Luffy and was willing to recommend Ace to her boss.

The best thing out of all of this was that this job had unexpected results. While the main purpose had been to reduce Ace's trips to the forest, he noticed the boy's explosive temper had been somewhat appeased since he began his job. He eventually discovered the reason for this was Makino herself.

Sometimes Garp thinks that Makino girl was a gift from the sea gods.

While Ace wasn't nice per se to the young woman -in fact he mostly ignored her- he seemed to tolerate her presence; which is more than Garp can say about most people.

It actually did make sense that someone like Ace, who had been completely devoid of a mother figure (Dandan could hardly be considered a woman to begin with) all his life, would find something of a parental figure in sweet, gentle Makino.

Curiously enough, Luffy had never had these parental issues. In fact, he treated Makino as a friend of his age more than anything.

Garp suspected that the reason for this was that Luffy, in a strange way, had become more resilient and mentally strong than Ace, the latter who had been mentally scarred to the point of questioning his own existence. Admittedly, if the brat hadn't acted like such a snot back then, Garp might have even felt sorry for him.

It is also worth adding that - for reasons he cannot fathom- some women of the village actually found his younger grandson_ cute _and tried to be motherly with him. Fortunately, Luffy paid no attention to them. Ace on the other hand, who looked older and more intimidating than his real age, didn't get this sort of attention.

But all of these issues with his older grandson, which were many, were still only the tip of the iceberg.

At first, while exasperating, he hadn't really minded the Pirate King's son rude manners and cold demeanor. Obviously he gave him a corresponding beating, but that was that. When it started being a threat to Luffy's life though, he began to worry.

Strangely enough, Luffy seemed to want to befriend Ace, so he started following him in his little escapades to the forest (fortunately now less frequent). Usually, Garp would be somewhat amused to learn that the 6 year old had followed Ace again only to have a tree trunk collide with his face or something of the like; but he soon realized that Luffy wouldn't be much of marine if he was dead.

Besides, he had been hoping the two boys would eventually become friends, and he was starting to see that while Luffy miraculously seemed willing, Ace was not warming up to him like he expected.

Oh-ho, but Garp wasn't having any of that. Both of his grandsons would get along. Oh yes.

So he decided to make joint training lessons_. Surely, relying on each other to survive will make Ace warm up. _Garp had thought back then.

It didn't help much though; in fact it only helped to make Ace exasperated on Luffy's inferior skills.

Fortunately one day, this dynamic changed. Somewhat.

One day, Garp had been visiting once again Foosha village, which was by now an almost daily habit, only to find Luffy being beaten to pulp by some angry folks, a burning building behind them. The comedy errors that lead to the building being on fire, he would never know, but what he did find out is that Luffy was not the only one guilty for the disaster.

It was after Garp recued Luffy that Ace found out Luffy had taken his and Ace's blame. The freckled boy had told Garp he thought Luffy had just escaped. Garp didn't blame him for thinking that; after all, the building the little devils had set on fire had been a Dojo.

After the whole ordeal, which involved Garp saving Luffy from complete obliteration only to give him a good beating himself, Luffy and Ace had a talk. During this conversation Garp had hidden behind a tree, listening intently.

He heard some sobbing, presumably from Luffy, and a harsh "stop crying!"From Ace. After some shouting, Ace seemed to be asking Luffy something, only to be interrupted by the latter.

"…because I don't want to be alone!" Luffy seemed to be explaining.

Just when the conversation was getting juicy and Garp believed to have heard Ace asking something about living, Garp's eavesdropping session was interrupted by mayor Woop Slap asking him what on All Blue's name was he doing hiding behind a tree spying on kids.

This wasn't yet the final incentive for Ace to befriend Luffy, but it was a start. Garp, immensely pleased, increased their joint survival training. Now, he left them to survive on deserted islands or jungles with nothing but each other for months. Which was convenient for Garp too, who couldn't afford visiting Foosha so frequently.

Curiously, what truly brought out Ace's protective streak was when Luffy had a brush with death. Garp admitted that he might have overdone it a bit when he locked up the 2 boys inside a room full of lions, but he hadn't expected for Luffy to come out so injured. There had been a moment where everyone genuinely thought Luffy would not make it.

It was after this that Ace, who probably had the guilt trip of his life, began acting like a real brother to Luffy. Amazingly enough, he even asked Makino to help him with his atrocious manners.

After this, Luffy's and Ace's relationship seemed to gradually improve, but there was still one tiny problem.

Ace wanted to be a pirate.

It wasn't just a hunch either; Ace had outright said "I don't care about your stupid rules old man! I want to be a pirate!" While this obviously earned him a good beating, Ace, much like Luffy, didn't care much about trivialities like threats and rule breaking.

The worst thing is that he was rubbing off unto Luffy, who was beginning to get curious about pirates too. After months of constant fighting and arguing because of this, it was a random slip once again what eventually changed Ace's attitude towards piracy.

Garp didn't even remember the situation; the when, the how, or the why, but he distinctly remembered how after a brief flash of horror, Ace's expression had seemed to close when Garp had offhandedly blurted,

"You are more like your father each day"

When he realized his gaffe, Garp had tried to amend it, but it only came out worse.

"Well Ace, maybe you shouldn't become a pirate if you resent your father so much. Ever thought about that?"

The silence that followed was so treacherous and loaded with significance Garp actually got worried. It was then when he realized how deeply rooted was Ace's resentment towards his father.

But Garp got out something positive out of this uncomfortable exchange; he had finally found his grandson's weak spot. In an attempt to sway him from his desire for piracy Garp made more of this comments during the following months at any chance he could. To be honest with himself, each time he found himself saying meaner and meaner things.

Ace did get quite furious at Garp several times, the brat even mustered the gall to try and punch him, but Garp's constant jabbing eventually worked. Ace never said anything about becoming a pirate again.

After that, everything went so quickly Garp still can't believe that twat grew up to be so… bearable. If someone had told him before that Ace would grow up to be a Commodore that was famous for his impeccable manners and well-humored nature, Garp would have punched the poor delusional fool.

As they say, reality is stranger than fiction.

Asides from the personality upgrade, the fact that his elder grandson even managed to join the Marines was a surprise. Not because he was unskilled in battle, nor because of the written exam, as the boy did have a streak of intelligence. No, the problem lied with the background check.

As expected, a thorough verification of your background is required, and there was something terribly tacky in Ace's one. Namely, being the son of the Pirate King, which wasn't particularly looked well upon. Fortunately the boy got lucky and his real heritage wasn't uncovered. Garp had a feeling it eventually would, but the consequences now would be softer. He didn't want his grandsons to become marines only for selfish reasons after all.

A loud crack interrupted Garp's train of thought: it seems the recently fixed wall hadn't been able to hold and had broken again. But finally feeling relaxed after his mental movie of success, Garp decided to pay no attention to the wall. After all, he needed to be in his best shape for tomorrow. Garp closed his eyes.

It was an important day after all, and nothing, _nothing _was supposed to go wrong.

* * *

**Twelve years ago**

_A young boy sat gloomily on a tree, staring quietly at the forest._

_His stomach was empty, his clothes tattered and he felt a fine layer of dirt covering his face. Of course, he didn't mind enduring hardships as long as he was far, far away from home, but he felt he was slowly losing his sense of purpose. Sure, being free from the restrictions of his former life was great, but now without them, he was somewhat lost._

_Adjusting his hat, the kid hopped from the tree. He needed to eat after all; there was no time to regret his decisions. But his thoughts betrayed him and he couldn't help but think this life of freedom hadn't been what he expected. Then again, he was not sure what a life of freedom comprised. Was this really freedom? He didn't know. The nine year old wasn't sure yet what sort of life he wanted. What he was sure of is that he really, really did not want to become a noble._

_While hunting for his lunch he reflected, quite anguished, that he really was lost. He had no plans for the future, and if his parents found him -which they probably would- he would have no plan for escaping his noble life either. But, to be honest with himself, there was another pressing matter that weighted him more. _

_It was a bit stupid but, above all, Sabo was lonely._

_As he treaded carefully through the woods, he eyed a wild boar. Perfect._

_Sabo frowned, when was the last time he had human contact, months? Well, saying that he hadn't seen a single human for months wasn't exactly true either, as for one, he had seen a young boy like him running around this forest. He had actually intended to talk to the black haired boy, but by the time he decided whether this was a sensible idea or not, he had started seeing the boy less and less until one day, he had stopped seeing him altogether._

_Killing the boar with one swift blow, Sabo dragged the dead animal back to his small hideout. He quickly lit a fire and started roasting his future lunch. His thoughts drifted again. During these last months he had been thinking a lot. But all his thoughts ended in the same conclusion: he wanted to be free._

_He didn't know or when, but he promised himself that someday, he would be freer than the freest of birds. Even if his parents did catch him._

_Sabo sighed again. They do say one has to wait patiently for miracles to happen._

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, navigator, you shouldn't have told Shanks about the rum.

Hello there! I must admit since the moment Garp mentioned he had wanted Luffy to become a marine -and subsequently Ace too- the idea of both brothers becoming marines has intrigued me. Thus, this project was born!

Just so you know, this fic is an AU in which the divergence point is when Shanks decides not to visit Luffy's hometown. While the world itself will be left intact, the storyline will obviously be totally different.

I would also like to mention that this story won't have any pairings, sorry buddies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Life with the Marines**

Chapter Two: Miscalculations

* * *

_15__th__ JAN_

_CHIEF OF NAVAL PERSONNEL_

**DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY**

BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL

**BASIC SKILLS EXAMINATION**

**NAME:**_Monkey D. Luffy_

**1****.**_**Buoyancy is the measure of a ship's**_ _.

Mystery ability.

**2.**_** Your ship will need a month to get to the next island, but you only have supplies for the next two weeks. (Read below to see the exact quantity of supplies). Explain how you ration the food between your 20 crew members (answer in kg). You may use the time table given to help you. **_

Half of the food would be for me and the other half for my 20 crewmembers, but if their ration contains meat then I wouldn't give them anything.

As for the amount of food per day, a wise man once said 'if you are hungry, eat.' I would follow this profound advice. One should never wait to eat.

**3.**_**You are at the helm of a sloop-rigged sailing vessel under sail on the port tack, on a beam reach, with all appropriate sails set and properly trimmed. You are instructed to "head up quickly". To utilize your sails to assist with the turn, you should**_** _**

…What are we talking about?

**4.**_** Who**__**(if any) is the most important member in a marine ship? **_

The musician.

**5.**_**Turn over the page. Use the map printed at the back and the compass that was given to you at the beginning of the exam to find the distance (and degrees) between Point A and Point B. **_

The two dots look pretty close to me.

I think both dots are at the same temperature as the rest of the room, I'm not sure of the exact degrees though.

**6.**_**Name all four Blues.**_

North Blue, East Blue, South Blue and I don't remember the other one.

**7.**_**The average height of the surface of the sea for all stages of the tide over a 19 year period is called:**_

Mystery height

_**8. In combat, if two enemy ships are blocking you at the bow and stern of your ship, what strategy do you choose to defeat (or escape from) them? Expand upon any specific military formation if mentioned.**_

I go and kick their ass!

* * *

Marine Ensign Baki stared blankly at the piece of paper in front of him.

_Is this for real?_

He took out his glasses, cleaned them and put them back on. Surely enough, the words were still there. _Could it be that the kid answered like this on purpose? To piss me off or something?_ Baki dismissed the idea, there was no way anyone could fake this answers. He looked at the paper again.

For a moment, the Ensign didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

It had started as a normal morning for Baki, waking up at 5 AM, practicing some drills, signing some papers and secretly playing card games with his subordinates. Then as quiet as death , his direct superior had come (thus interrupting his secret poker session) and handed him the accursed piece of paper, telling him he had 2 hours to correct the exam. Just as he was about to leave he added ´recruitment exam. Garp's grandson.´

The last statement had sparked some interest in Baki. It had been motif of gossip for the last few days that Garp's grandson was going to take a recruitment examination, with a fight and everything! Whenever they were out of ear sight, marines speculated what kind of monster Garp's grandson would be like. There is a theory approved by most marines from the lower ranks that says the stronger you become, the bigger eccentricities you develop to balance out the added pressure of your power. Garp, and to an extent his other grandson Ace, fit uncannily well with this stereotype, so one could only imagine what _thing_ may come out of that family.

For this various reasons, Baki had initially been excited to correct the exam.

Ah, ignorance is bliss.

Now the Ensign was stuck in a moral dilemma: Obviously was it any other person, he would have already torn the exam to pieces and told the poor soul to never go close to the sea again, even if his grandma was drowning. But no, this was no ordinary person. This was Monkey D. Garp's grandson, and he had a feeling that if he told Garp what he really thought about his grandson's intelligence, the punch he would earn would rip the space-time continuum and reach his ancestors. If he got lucky.

So thanks to good old nepotism (and life preservation instincts) Baki had to obviously be benevolent with this Luffy kid. But where to start? Not only did the little rascal lack knowledge of sailing endorsement, tides and survival, he just lacked common sense, pure and simple. Baki looked at the paper again.

_Well, he almost got the Blues question right…_

The Ensign sighed, this were going to be the longest 2 hours of his life.

* * *

So far, today was being a good day for Luffy.

While most of the day has been boring, what with arriving safely to the 77th Branch Base and then that super boring exam, now his day seemed to be improving quickly.

His first reason for content was the written exam, although, as mentioned before, it had been mind-numbingly boring Luffy was very satisfied with how he had answered those exam questions. Yes, he was sure he was going to pass.

Another factor that tipped the scale from 'bad day' towards 'good day' was that after he had finished his written test, he had encountered his grandpa. While this was usually not a reason for content in the least, this particular conversation had been satisfying.

"_Luffy? Oi Luffy! Turn around!" Luffy, who had been busy investigating the depths of his nose, hastily turned around to see his grandfather's face peering at him. _

"_Hi grandpa!" _

…

_Luffy didn't really know what to say next. While the young man admired his grandfather, he had always felt somewhat intimidated by him. Obviously, being left alone in the jungle at night at the tender age of four could make you fear someone, but even without that, Garp still possessed a booming presence that made even someone like Luffy pale in comparison._

"_Don't just stand there looking at me brat! How did the exam go?" Garp gave his grandson a good-natured pat on the back that almost sent the boy toppling over._

"_Very good, I think I'll pass—"_

"_Really?" Garp interrupted " Wahahahah what a surprise! You know Luffy; your grandpa over here was never very good with written exams, hard to believe I know." Garp ruffled Luffy's hair somewhat brusquely before adding "I'm sure one day you'll surpass me, boy." _

_While most people's ego would feel bruised at the prospect of being outshined, Garp was not most people. In fact, he was seriously thrilled about Luffy and Ace surpassing him and was happily waiting for that day to come._

_Luffy squirmed uncomfortably under his grandfather's steel grip. To be honest with himself, while he was determined on surpassing Garp and everyone in the marine at that, he still found the notion of surpassing his grandfather somewhat disconcerting and very, very distant._

"_But I digress Luffy," Garp continued "What I came to tell you was that you have to be at 6 in the base's campus for your match against Captain Asagao- ."_

"_Fight? What fight?"Garp stared at Luufy as if the boy had grown another head. _

_PUNCH._

"_The mock battle to evaluate your skills stupid! Did you really come here thinking you'd only take a written exam, you dimwit?"_

"… _do I really have to answer that?" _

_Garp's ears turned red and for a moment, he looked like he might as well go and give the wall a hard nice punch. Not like that was something out of the norm. After a few tense seconds, he finally relaxed._

"_Anyways," The Vice Admiral waved his hand dismissively, " you still have six hours before the fight but make sure you aren't late. Also, there'll be a bunch of commodores judging you, so use everything I've taught you son!" With that, Garp turned away, leaving a very confused Luffy._

_Luffy blinked and, after a few seconds, he started laughing. Despite it being too much information to take in all at once, the 18- year-old had to admit the idea of fighting a Captain sounded rad. _

Now, ten minutes after this very enlightening conversation with Garp, Luffy had just casually walked into the third reason for his happiness: the marine lunchroom.

Well, he hadn't exactly _casually walked_ intothe cafeteria; he had been following the smell of meat the second he had walked out of the exam, but that was beside the point.

The cafeteria was big, crowded and buffet-style. Just like he liked it. Luffy quickly gravitated to the meat section, where he was met with some very tempting, juicy Sea King meat in display.

For some reason, he got a flashback of Ace commenting that eating meat for breakfast wasn't exactly normal, his eyebrow raised in that typical incredulous expression of his, but Luffy shrugged it off. His big brother could eat whatever _he_ wanted for breakfast, Luffy was going to eat this Sea King meat and that was that. Besides, this was his second breakfast anyways.

Also, he had to be at his best when he fought against that Captain dude in the evening, and nothing put anyone in better shape than eating meat. Only wearing an afro could put you in better shape. Luffy made a mental note to look for an afro before fighting.

Without any more contemplation, Luffy set out to raid the lunchroom.

* * *

With an unceremonious burp, Luffy finished his 'breakfast'. He had to admit he was slightly disappointed; he had eaten all the meat in the whole buffet and he was still hungry. Clearly, these marines had a serious problem with food quantity.

Deciding that being starved like this wasn't acceptable, Luffy quickly stood up and decided to look for more food. Scanning the room for some lost scrap of meat he realized the room was almost empty. It seems that while Luffy had eaten his humble, small breakfast, the people had left the lunchroom and now, in their place, were cooks and waiters, who were picking up the dirty plates of the customers and whatnot.

The word cook lit up and small light bulb in Luffy's head. _I bet the kitchen is still full of food!_ Without a moment of hesitation Luffy quickly followed a short, stocky waitress exiting the room, to what the rubber boy assumed had to be the kitchen.

If the mouth-watering smell that suddenly invaded his nose was anything to go by, his guess had been right for once and the room he found himself in was really the kitchen. Luffy's mouth watered.

The kitchen was a circus of waiters walking in and out of the kitchen, professional cooks going around testing each plate and unlucky trainees washing the dishes. Steam was everywhere and the sound of vegetables being chopped was heard in the background. All in all, the place was warm, damp and noisy. Luffy liked it.

Throwing discretion out the window, the young man looked around curiously until he felt a hand grabbing him. His heart dropped. _Crap!_ The marine-to-be turned around slowly, his hands becoming sweaty… only to be shoved an impressive stack of dirty dishes.

A bit confused, Luffy walked around the kitchen until he found a counter to drop the plates at.

CRASH!

…_Oops. _Pieces of broken dishes flied throughout the kitchen. While most of the piercing noise had been drowned by the chaos of the kitchen, Luffy felt several cold eyes looking at him. Fortunately a grim looking trainee approached the crime scene to clean the mess. Luffy took this as his cue to leave.

But as he made his way past the cooks something in front of him made him forget about his plan to leave the kitchen.

There, in front of his very eyes, was a huge oven containing one of the most delicious looking pieces of meat he had ever seen. The glorious thing was big and shiny and best of all, almost completely cooked. Furtively looking around to make sure no one was watching, the rubber man quickly opened the oven in front of him and leaned in, intent on getting the piece of meat. He was about to grab the meat, but the aroma was so intoxicating he couldn't help but stay there, smelling it.

Luffy stayed that way for a few blissful minutes, half leaning inside the oven, smelling the meat in content. That is, until he felt a suspicious heat in his recently bought marine shirt. Luffy felt his stomach do a flip. He slowly looked down at his chest and his suspicions were confirmed.

His shirt was on fire.

* * *

In another part of the base, Garp was engaged in a fascinating conversation.

"…. And I finally beat my donut-eating record! 345 donuts, did you hear that, eh Asagao?"

His former subordinate nodded absentmindedly.

"Well, anyways," Garp continued, disregarding the other man's blatant disinterest "what I wanted to tell you is don't go soft on my grandson eh? He's a tough one! Wahahaha!"

Asagao opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a Petty Officer slamming the door open.

"Vice Admiral, Captain, you have to go back to your respective ships as soon as possible!" The Officer straightened, trying to regain his composure.

"What?"Garp asked, "Why?"

"I'm afraid we are dealing with a fire right now, Sir."

* * *

Baki's day just continued on getting worse and worse.

_Stupid budget cuts, can't even afford some damn extinguishers!_ He grabbed another bucket of water and threw it at the growing fire, which by now had spread out from the kitchen and was starting to burn the cafeteria.

Baki had been told this whole mess was started by some waiter whose shirt caught on fire. It seems the moron ripped his shirt off and threw it at the floor, which happened to be made of wood. Baki coughed, the smoke damaging his lungs.

Some people also told him that afterwards, the little troublemaker run off, saying he had to look for an afro or something weird like that. _They sure hire crazies these days._

Baki filled another bucket with water. He heard some marines casually, talking, as if there wasn't a potentially hazardous fire in front of them. He tried to listen to the conversation. _Huh._ It seems that the guests of honor; Monkey D. Garp and his idiot grandson, Captain Asagao and the three commodores, were told to leave to their respective ships immediately, leaving this mess to the Marines that were actually from the 77th Branch Base. _Lucky them. _He thought bitterly.

At least, Baki had managed to discreetly throw Luffy's exam in the fire, now he just had to come up with an excuse for what was he doing in the kitchen while correcting an exam and that would be one less problem to deal with. Baki started sweating, the heat rising by the moment.

Talking about that kid, if what he was hearing from the gossipers was right, it seems he wouldn't get to see his fight with Asagao after all. For security and time reasons, his fight would be in the training area of Asagao's humongous ship instead of the branch base's arena. Stupid fire, he had actually wanted to see the fight. Hell, he had even placed bets.

Curiously though, everyone was throwing a huge fit because Garp's grandson had mysteriously disappeared. The Ensign coughed again.

_I shouldn't have got out of bed today._

Looming over a damp, dark janitor's room, Luffy raised his fist in success.

"I knew there had to be an afro somewhere!"

The afro in question was very worn and an offensive shade of pink, but Luffy decided to let it slide. It had been too difficult to find it in the first place to care about small technicalities. After running away from the fire he had started (burnt rubber was not a pretty thing) and killing some time by looking throughout the whole base for an afro, it had been by pure luck he came across this quirky janitor closet, which also seemed to have hidden amongst its depths a nail clipper, a rubber duck, a thong and a small colony of baby Den Den Mushis.

Coughing as a result of all the smoke he had inhaled, Luffy grabbed the afro and started running, he was pretty sure his fight was supposed to start at any moment. Making his way past a row of rooms he didn't really know about, Luffy realized that there wasn't anyone around_. Ah yeah, the fire… well it wasn't my fault the floor was stupid enough to catch on fire! _

After more than half an hour running around lost, Luffy finally reached the building's exit. He inhaled happily the fresh air; the smoke had managed to reach much of the base. Luffy veered through some buildings until he found the training grounds, but they were empty too. Luffy looked around in confusion.

Not one to waste time, the rubber boy climbed to the roof of the nearest building, in hope of seeing anything. Fortunately, the base was right next to the sea, and the docked ships could be easily seen. In fact, was that his grandfather? _What is he doing there?_

Well, he will find it out.

After adjusting his afro, Luffy stretched his arms until they reached the ship. Feeling up the ship until he got the right grip, Luffy slingshot his way to the ship.

Disregarding decorum, Garp let out a loud yawn in front of all the high ranking marines sitting next to him. To top his insomnia episode, he had had to wake up 5 a.m. to take the ship and now, to top it off, he had had to run away from a silly little fire. _What idiot manages to get his shirt on fire anyways? _Fortunately, he was now sitting in his privileged seat in Asagao's training- campus-turned-battling arena (with all the seats the thing almost looks like a stadium), and now perhaps he could take a nap...but no. Luffy's battle would start in any moment.

_Where is the brat anyways?_

While Asagao's and Garp's crewmembers started to fill their respective seats, some stools away from Garp, his other grandson, Ace, had just happened to arrive. But Ace had no intention of alerting his grandfather of his presence. The young man winced at the mere thought of how the grandfather-grandson meeting would go.

_PUNCH. " Wahahahah! Ace, my boy! Not in your best shape are ya?"_

"… _Hi, old man."_

_PUNCH. " What is that about old man?!"_

"…"

Indeed, Ace didn't plan to miss his little brother's fight because of a head concussion; especially after all it had taken him to get there.

Lacking a rank as imposing as Garp's, it had taken Ace a lot coaxing to be allowed to leave his post to watch his little brother get recruited. Not to mention that while usual, this particular process for recruiting marines was not exactly allowed, so not everyone was allowed to watch-

Ace's train of thought was interrupted when his vision suddenly went black and he fell asleep, dropping in his seat with a loud _thump_.

His 'nap' didn't last much though; Ace soon woke up to the sound of screams and gasps. _Why are people shouting? _Somewhat disoriented, the young man looked up only to see a flash of—is that pink?— landing ungracefully in the middle of the arena.

It took him a few moments to realize that that _thing _was actually his brother. Ace blinked in confusion. _What the hell is he wearing in his head? And why is he half burnt?! That Luffy! Only thing he knows is how to get in trouble!_

Ace momentarily set apart these thoughts when he saw his brother start making weird hand gestures.

"Oi!" He shouted, "Is the guy I gotta fight here?"

Ace could practically feel Garp's outrage.

"I'm right here"

The voice was quite but imposing, sounding as if it came from the entire arena at once. Soon enough, the owner of the voice appeared. It was a man in his middle thirties, with salt-and-pepper hair and a tanned skin that was definetly weather-beaten. He had a serious, almost grim expression.

_Ah, is that Asagao guy._

Captain Asagao, chosen for this fight because he used to be a subordinate of Garp, was known for inspiring the respect—and fear- of Marines twice he age and size. (Back in the day, he had also been known for being a particularly skilled wall-repairer). Many say that his skills outstrip his current rank and Ace was genuinely curious to see him in action. Especially against Luffy. Ace was burning in anticipation—no pun intended.

Luffy stared at Asagao, who was now in front of him.

"So, can I fight you right now?"

…

"Yes."

Ace raised an eyebrow_. That… is a really anticlimactic beginning for a fight._

They fought.

It took exactly two minutes and thirty seconds for Ace to realize Luffy was in serious trouble.

Luffy had started the fight with his classic rubber pistol, aiming towards the Captain's gut. The older brother had sensed somethingoff about Asagao the moment he dodged that first blow, but frustratingly enough, he could not pin down what exactly it was.

The next two minutes, while a blur to the untrained eye, had been surprisingly repetitive. On one hand Luffy had started throwing wild punches and kicks like the fighting machine he was, but Asagao wasn't even trying. They were almost diametrically opposite in their fighting style.

Luffy attacked recklessly, with vigor and with obviously not much thinking involved. Asagao, on the other hand, possessed a subtlety in battle that was chilling.

Whenever Luffy aimed an attack at him the man didn't even really dodge, he merely stepped aside, avoiding the attack by a hair's breadth. It was weird as hell.

Ace could sense Luffy's exasperation as he increased the speed and brute force of his attacks, Asagao not even bothering to speed up himself. The older brother noted that the man was probably not very fast either. _This is really strange. _There was something else that striked Ace as unnerving; Asagao had not tried to hit Luffy even once.

His thoughts came to a halt when Luffy, who had been gradually managing to get closer and closer to Asagao, finally found an opening in the man's defense: the boy had attempted a kick to the Captain's face and while Asagao had dodged, he had clearly expected the boy to pull away. But being the unpredictable creature he was, the rubber boy had quickly regained his posture and positioned his arm with the intention of landing a punch worthy of his grandfather. Everyone stiffened with anticipation and Ace could hear marines whispering about their bets or saying comments like "he got him now!"

But the atmosphere of the room dropped several degrees when Luffy had his fist gently brushed aside as if swatting a fly, followed by a swift, merciless kick on the gut that sent him flying.

_Whoa!_

Luffy's back collided with the ship's mast with a loud _thump. _Not one to give up, he decided to use the mast for some impulse and started stretching his arms.

_Good idea Luffy!_

Stretching his arms to the limits his Devil Fruit allowed him to, Luffy used the mast to fling himself like a slingshot, with the intention of slamming into Asagao.

He missed.

* * *

Luffy felt an intense pain as he crashed against something that could only be wood, but as soon as it came the pain was gone and he felt a cool breeze brushing his face.

Then he fell into the ocean.

Before hitting the water Luffy managed to latch to a piece of wood that had been sent flying with him. He landed with a loud splash. _Damn._ The water as cold and unpleasant and salty as he expected. Despite being able to float because of the aforementioned piece of wood, Luffy had gotten too wet for his comfort, his energy vanishing the more the water soaked his body.

As his body being dragged back and forth The Marine-to-be started to feel a wave of nausea going up his throat . _Crap! _

Luffy mustered the last of his almost totally drained energy to look up, searching for the ship. He blinked. Turning his rubber neck around in an owlish fashion Luffy made a double checked.

There was just water.

_Guess I took much impulse, hehehe_…

* * *

TBC

**A/N:** First of all, a big thanks to everyone who bothered to read/review/favorite etc, this humble little story! It's very motivating, guys. Also I wanted to address a somewhat embarrassing issue: I'm embarrassed to ask someone to be my beta because I don't want to put them in an awkward situation, so if anyone wants to beta this story, please do send me a private message!


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